This invention relates to a dispenser with a pointed nozzle for applying a liquid eyedrop composition. This invention particularly relates to an improved bumper for an eyedrop dispenser which makes it easier to apply the eyedrops while reducing the user's fear of inadvertently jabbing the dispenser's nozzle in his eyes.
An eyedrop dispenser is well known from Casey U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,865 having a pointed nozzle surrounded by a dome-shaped bumper on top of a squeezable hollow body holding the eyedrops. The body and bumper of this patented dispenser have been provided with an oblong shape when viewed from the top, and the lower edge of the bumper has been press-fit, heat-sealed or otherwise permanently adhered to the midsection of the dispenser. The top of the bumper has been approximately coplanar with the tip of the nozzle, and an annular space has been provided between them so as not to interfere with the flow of eyedrops from the dispensing opening in the nozzle tip. When the dispenser has been inverted and held above the consumer's eye and then squeezed to apply eyedrops to the eye, the bumper has made the top of the dispenser appear generally blunt to the consumer's eye, despite the pointed tip of the dispenser's nozzle. As a result, the consumer has found it easier to apply an eyedrop composition, such as an aqueous solution of tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride, to his eye from the dispenser to relieve simple irritation of the eye. This is because the bumper has served to reduce the consumer's fear of inadvertently jabbing his eye with the tip of the dispenser's nozzle while administering eyedrops to the eye.
However, problems have been encountered in using the patented dispenser. In this regard, the construction described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,865 embodies a well surrounding the dropper tip and in which dirt may accumulate. Furthermore, the tip of the dispenser's nozzle has tended to wobble when the dispenser has been inverted and held over the consumer's eye and particularly when the dispenser has been squeezed to dispense eyedrops from its nozzle. This has made it difficult to get eyedrops to fall from the dispenser into the consumer's eye, without the eyedrops also falling all over the consumer's face. There has been a need, therefore, for an improved eyedrop dispenser, which makes it easier to get eyedrops into the consumer's eye and eliminates dirt accumulation problems.